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19/07/24
16:35
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Originally posted by hollandpark
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I actually did do some back of the envelope figures before purchasing.
We do around 15 000kms per year. Consumption of our old diesel car was (generously) 8.2l/100kms, giving fuel cost over a 5 year period of about $12 000.
Based on the same number of kilometres over a 5 year period, I expect the cost of charging our ev will be less than $1000. Mind you, this is the opportunity cost of charging it. It may well be less than that given the falling solar feed-in tariffs. Already my energy retailer gives away 3 free hours in the middle of the day.
If I keep the car for at least 15 years (which is our habit and seems to be realistic with regards to battery life, but that's an argument for another day), then I will have saved approximately $33 000 in fuel over an ICE vehicle. I fully expect the ev to have no value after 15 years but I don't think anyone could say that the residual value of a similarly priced ICE vehicle will have a value of $33 000 after 15 years either.
IMO servicing costs and tyre costs are not yet fully computable. I would expect the ICE vehicle to have greater servicing costs. Perhaps the ev will have greater tyre costs.
So I think it's horses for courses. An ev suits us perfectly for our circumstances. If I drove long distances and/or relied on commercial charging, as much as I like my ev, I would have opted for an ICE at this stage in the evolution of evs and charging technology in Australia.
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"We do around 15 000kms per year. Consumption of our old diesel car was (generously) 8.2l/100kms, giving fuel cost over a 5 year period of about $12 000."
Balanced and reasonable anecdote, I think, with $12k being a figure representative of the median experience (even though your 15,000km would be meaningfully higher than the average vehicle usage0.
Another piece of the jigsaw puzzle is the higher insurance cost of EVs:
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/why-are-electric-cars-more-expensive-to-insure/